Dirt sat in a corner of an alley which she has took to calling her home for a past year. She crushed some stale bread and fed them to the pigeons that had gathered around her.

Around her were rundown apartment buildings with faded red paint that looked disturbingly like dried blood. Above her were clotheslines curving under the weight of wet laundry, hiding Dirt from sight of anyone in the apartments.

Not that anyone cared much about a street vermin.

Dirt observed as the pigeons cooed noisily among themselves and at times snatching food from each other. Between discarded boxes, rats stared hungrily at the crumbs but didn't dare venture out of their hiding places.

Dirt threw some bread crumbs their way and watched as the rats darted out to grab a piece and disappeared back between the boxes. The young lady felt a sense of calm wash over her.

Clothed in a filthy worn out shirt, no one could have known that it was once a bright pink. Her cardigan was an equally dirty grey with splatters of mud. An over-sized cargo jeans littered with tears covered her legs, so she secured them with a cheap faux leather belt she had stolen ages ago.

The only new thing she owned was a black hair band decorated with a plastic cherry that held her head of dirty blonde shoulder length hair. She had trimmed her hair which had reached her waist with a kitchen knife only a week ago as the summer heat was getting to her.  

Dirt felt no need for new garments. Born and raised on the streets she was unable to fathom life any other way.

The sound of footsteps startled the creatures that gathered around Dirt and she in turn looked towards the entrance of her alley.

Rolling her eyes, Dirt returned her attention to her animal friends, however they were too disturbed by the arrival of an unexpected guest and many had already taken flight to safer grounds.

"Hey pretty pretty, talking to your little friends again?" The short middle aged man began. Tony was an ugly man, there was really no way to sugar coat the fact that he was not at all pleasant to look at.

In his late forties, all he was left was a few strands of silver hair a top a round face that was littered with bumps and a scar down his right eye.

While Tony claimed that the scar was from a brawl with a mugger, it was highly unlikely as even tugs choose their targets wisely.

Word on the streets was that a prostitute had given him that everlasting souvenir on a night when he tried to go rough on her. The only thing the sad excuse of a man was wearing was an old bathrobe.

Dirt silently prayed Tony was wearing something under the robe. "Leave me alone" she retorted, annoyed that the peaceful afternoon she was having only minutes ago, was destroyed by a stinking obese filth.

This is going to be like all those other times, he tries to get in my pants, tries to buy a night with me even, I will gladly insult him until he feels completely worthless then he will hurl a couple of snide remarks my way and I can go back to whatever it was that I was just doing, Dirt thought.

"I love your new hair, it's so edgy. Exactly the way I like it. How about you and I have some fun? In return, you get to remain in my alley" snorted the man.

Why does a disgusting pig like him get to be a landlord? Dirt sighed. "Why do you even bother trying? You can never afford me and even if you could I'd kill myself before lying with filth like you. Why don't you slither across the street to find yourself a desperate whore, and for heaven's sake please screw one that's of legal age for once."

A flash of anger ran across Tony’s face and he replaced it with a sly smile.

“I think we may have misunderstood me” said Tony as he advanced towards Dirt. “I wasn’t making you an offer, I was merely thinking aloud. Rumor has it that you’re a sweet sweet virgin, and just the thought of you tight little hole is making me so horny”

Realizing what the fat landlord meant, Dirt quickly backed away but was too late. She felt a sweaty arm grab her shoulder.

Tony’s face was now filled with a look of lust, like a wolf that finally caught its prey. Dirt reached for the fruit knife she kept for difficult situations such as this, however with an uncanny speed, the weapon was knocked off her right hand.

“Let me go you fat fuck!”

“Yes! I love girls who put up a fight” Tony exclaimed, now sounding completely maniacal. He unzipped Dirt’s cargo jeans.

Dirt froze with fear.

Not like this she screamed in her mind. NOT LIKE THIS!!!

A huge rat fell on Tony’s head. And then another. And another.

Releasing Dirt from his grips, he released a high pitched shriek, flapping his hands wildly in an attempt to get the rats off his body. But as soon as he reaped one off, more rats jumped onto him, diseased ridden teeth biting into his flesh. The pigeons joined in, some pecking at him while others clawing at his face.

Dirt quickly pulled her flyer up and stared in amazement at the man, now struggling wildly on the ground and never once did he stop screaming for help.

It was then that Dirt noticed a new sensation, something unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was a sense of connection between her and the swarm of animals attacking Tony.

Dirt could feel the intention of all the rats and pigeons, there was only one intention. They wanted to protect her. Dirt was intrigued. ‘Stop’ she cast the thought out.

At once the biting, clawing and pecking ceased. A bloody mess sprawled before Dirt. She could hear a wheezing which was the only clue that Tony was still alive. Deep down, Dirt knew that the man that had almost raped her would die from infected wounds if he did not receive medical aid soon. However, she stood up retrieved her fruit knife and strolled away.

Natasha sat on a rocking chair, wearing a gold rimmed reading glasses, she was working on her latest craft obsession, armigurumi. They were dolls entirely handmade by crocheting in circles and sewing different body parts together.

She had already made a dozen dolls in the past weeks and was making plans to sell them on online craft markets very soon. A fun and relaxing way to make a second income, Natasha has decided to put her extra time to good use.

Being a teacher in a special needs school wasn't an easy job, but over the year she had gotten used to educating children with special needs. In fact it was the first job in her life that she didn't wake up everyday dreading work, not to mention the perfect half a way working hours, since she only had to teach the morning session.

What made her feel truly blessed was that she could teach these students useful arts and crafts, which would allow them to earn a living. Natasha had helped the school kick start a social enterprise, making little gifts and selling them online, all profits were split into allowances for employees and covered the operation cost of the sheltered workshop where students make crafts.

Natasha felt slightly guilty that she was also selling her homemade products online, though she took care not to sell the same items. Another consolation was that she was a single mother.

Having separated from her ex husband when her daughter Kitana was only a baby, Natasha raised her beloved child all by herself. She had eloped with her ex lover when she was seventeen, when her belly had began to swell.

Natasha's fiercely conservative parents had wanted her to abort the baby. Unable to end the life of her unborn child, she had decided to run away with the love of her life.

Only, life isn't always a fairytale as she'd hoped. The man she had loved revealed a side of himself to her that she never knew,  then again, how much can you know about a person after being together for only six months?

He had started drinking excessively, and was verbally abusive towards her.  The tipping point was when the beatings came, a slap across the face was tolerated. A week later, he had shoved her roughly during a heated argument, by sheer luck she fell on to a sofa nearby.

Any where else and it might have resulted in a miscarriage. The next morning when he had left to get some groceries, she disappeared from his life, rented a small apartment with all the money she had left.

The following few years were tough for Natasha, but eventually she completed a diploma in special education while working part time, as well as caring for her baby. Eventually,  Kitana was old enough to be sent to preschool and things stabilised in her life. In her quaint little apartment,  decorated with handmade trinkets, all Natasha wished for was her beautiful daughter to grow up strong and healthy.

Placing the comic book on his study desk, Zack thought about the awesome abilities of the different characters. 

So far the plot had been promising.

He had borrowed the graphic novel from a public library, a place he frequented. The furthest place his parents would allow him to travel alone.

Switching his laptop on, Zack did a quick search on Wikipedia to find out more about 'newuniversal', what he discovered made his heart sank. The series had been discontinued and died a premature death. It had so much potential to do really well.

Zack cursed at his luck.

His previous visit to the library led him to devour many volumes of the 'runaways' by Marvel. Zack had fallen in love with many of the characters, however at its peak, the series went into a hiatus, with no news of the series ever being picked up again.

Zack wondered what happened to unfinished stories. Were they actually completed in the author's mind, only that the thoughts were never quite translated into words, or in this case, comic strips?

He wondered if it would be the same if someone else had continued the story on behalf of a dead author and decided that it wouldn't be the same.

Shaking away his irritation and sense of loss, he opened a new Internet tab and went to his favorite website. He'd discovered 'fanfiction.net' years ago due to his fascination of graphic novels and animes.

The website allowed him to indulge in alternative story lines of anime series that have already ended. Some fan authors were really bad, but if you sifted through the garbage, gold would surface at times.

Approximately two years ago, having read too many horrible fanfictions, Zack decided that he should try writing. He started with existing characters and story lines from animes he loved like Evangelion and Card Captor Sakura. After all, it was easier to write fiction with materials from an existing fictional universe.

At first, there weren't much response, he could see that there were people reading his stories, but there were no comments, so he wasn't sure if people liked it. Zack didn't want to share it with his parents or his friends in school. It was his own little secret. He even gave himself a pen name. Zachary Wheeler.

Then one day, things started getting exciting, there was a comment, he replied. Someone shared his story on Twitter, another recommended it on Facebook. Before long, he was getting thousands of readers and more comments that he could handle. Many asking if he would write is own stories.

And he did.

School days were short for Zack. Eight in the morning until one in the afternoon. He had so much time to write. It wasn't like he could go outside anytime he wanted, like other teenagers. So he spent his time day dreaming about how his first original story would go. He created elaborate characters for the book. It was going to be science fiction, a genre really new to him. 

Zack got his inspiration for his futuristic city after watching a documentary titled 'Designing the future',  by Jacque Fresco, a brilliant architectural designer. It took Zack a week to decide on the plot. An additional week for him to draw maps and concept art for his city and characters.

Finally he was ready to embark on his first book.